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Chinese 'Ultra Vulgar Butcher' activist jailed for 8 years

China has sentenced prominent rights activist Wu Gan to eight years for subversion after online criticism of Beijing's leaders. His jailing is the harshest punishment in a two-year crackdown on dissent.

A court in northeast China on Tuesday handed down an eight year sentence for subversion to the well-known activist Wu Gan, his lawyer said.

The self-proclaimed Ultra Vulgar Butcher was found guilty by the Tianjin No 2 Intermediate Court of subverting state power after he was arrested in 2015 for posting attention-grabbing activism campaigns online.

He had been held in pre-trial detention for two years.

Several charges

A statement from the court said Wu had criticized China's political system online and used performance art to create disturbances, as well as insulting people and spreading false information.

In response to the sentence, Wu cheekily said he was "grateful to the (Communist) party for granting me this lofty honor," his lawyer Ge Yongxi told The Associated Press.

He went on to poke fun at a phrase often used by Chinese President Xi JinPing to motivate Communist Party officials, by saying: "I will remain true to our original aspiration, roll up my sleeves and make an extra effort."

Wu also used his online platform to cast doubt on the official version of events in a controversial case in which a police officer shot a petitioner in a train station in northern China's Heilongjiang province in May 2015.

Wider crackdown

He was among the first activists caught up in a major government clampdown on rights campaigners in 2015.